A new study that focuses on hydration and sweat analysis, is in the works to make monitoring of health parameters during physical exercise accessible to all by incorporating low-cost passive sensors with RFID technology in textile materials.
- The research project—HydraSport—is looking to incorporate flexible technology with no batteries or complex circuits into everyday clothing, thereby enabling health to be measured in an unassisted and non-invasive manner.
The research: The project led by Joan Melià Seguí, Professor at the Faculty of Computer Science, Multimedia and Telecommunications at the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya in Spain, and a researcher at the Wireless Networks group (WINE) at the Internet Interdisciplinary Institute (IN3), aims to make positive contributions in both the scientific and industrial fields, and for society as a whole.
- The research project has received funding from Spain's Ministry of Culture and Sport, through its National Sports Council and from the European funds for the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan.
HOW & WHY: The team at the UOC is studying the potential for incorporating radio frequency identification (RFID) technologies into smart fabrics that use sweat to collect information about the hydration of the person wearing them.
- The integration of very low-cost passive sensors with RFID technology in textile materials would enable the industry to develop digitised garments with a wide range of applications in sports and health prevention.
- Developments like the one the UOC researchers are working on hope to improve early diagnosis and prevention systems focused on the health of people who practise sports.
- Because it is a low-cost solution that can easily be integrated into current medical systems, the adoption barrier would be low for industry, and it could be a vehicle for making breakthroughs in digital health available to society as a whole.
- The primary objective is to promote physical exercise beneficial to health, following the recommendations of the WHO and the third sustainable development goal of the United Nations (ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages), by making smart clothing that permits basic monitoring of health parameters such as hydration available to everyone.
THE HEALTH CONTEXT: Regular physical exercise is essential for preventing and managing heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and cancer.
- According to the WHO, it also contributes to reducing symptoms of depression and anxiety, mitigating cognitive decline, improving memory and boosting brain health. Nevertheless, according to the organisation, one in four of the world's adults and four in five adolescents do not do enough physical exercise.
- In some cases, such as elderly people, those with illnesses or those who live in environments with adverse climates (such as very hot places), physical exercise is more likely to lead to negative health effects such as dehydration.
- For this reason, the monitoring of basic parameters such as hydration must be made available to everyone in order to improve the conditions to make physical exercise a universal activity that is beneficial to health.
WHAT THEY SAID:
We need a technology which is small-scale and has a very low cost that enables both measurement by means of a sensor and the communication of data through technologies compatible with the internet of things. In its various versions, RFID is a technology that can work without a battery, as the tags are powered by radio frequency waves from the reading equipment, and its design enables basic measurements to be taken in exchange for a very low production cost. During the project we'll be investigating appropriate fabrics and technological designs. We hope the results open the way for future collaborations with other researchers and industry.
— Joan Melià Seguí
Professor, Faculty of Computer Science Multimedia and Telecommunications
Universitat Oberta de Catalunya
